Dont Replace me
by Javamaniac
Summary: Complete! Based on the global promo for 719. Short javajunkie. Complete
1. Chapter 1

Based on the global promo for 719- no spoilers other than that like 20second add.

"Are you getting a new car or not?" Luke yelled

"Not" Lorelai replied.

They drove in silence in Luke's truck for most of the journey back to stars hollow.

"Why did you call me here today if you're not even going to buy a damn new car?" Luke questioned suddenly, taking Lorelai out of her thoughts.

"I changed my mind" Lorelai replied simply

"You changed your mind" Luke repeated

"My jeep was broken and I thought it was time for a new one"

"Then why couldn't you just pick one" Luke asked like it was the most obvious thing in the world

"They weren't good enough" Lorelai said decidedly

Luke glanced over at her incredibly

"Your jeep is ten years old, every single car we looked at was better, and safer" he added

"My jeep is not unsafe" Lorelai said firmly

"It's not working either" Luke pointed out

"But it will be" Lorelai interjected

Luke sighed exasperatedly

"And I love my jeep. When we were there looking at all those newer ones it was just like, nothing compared to my jeep you know?"

"What exactly is so special about your damn jeep?" Luke asked, getting seriously annoyed with Lorelai's irrational reasoning. She needed a new car, her jeep had broken down. It was time to get a new one.

"I can't explain exactly. But it's like, this is the first major problem old jeep has given me in the entire ten years I've had it. One time it let me down, one time" Lorelai said, really getting passionate about what she was saying, "Ten years Luke, you don' t just throw away ten years because it let me down one time. I owe it at least one chance"

Luke calmed down a bit, realizing Lorelai was not just talking about her jeep, "you need a new car, and it will be good for you. The jeep has a good run, it's time to move on" he reasoned.

Lorelai shook her head firmly, "No it's not. It's not time to move on, you heard the mechanic, it can be fixed" Lorelai said

"Yea, but it's going to be expensive, and take a lot of work" Luke said softly

They both knew the conversation had moved way beyond the issue of whether or not she replaced her vehicle.

"It will take work, a lot of work" Lorelai agreed, "but I Love my car" she finished, placing emphasis on the word love.

Luke looked over at Lorelai and she realized that they were pulled up outside her house.

"So you're not getting a new car" Luke asked finally

"Definitely not" Lorelai replied

"But what if it breaks again?" Luke asked seriously

"I don't care how many times it breaks" Lorelai said firmly, looking pointedly at Luke, "It can always be fixed, if it keeps breaking, then I will keep having it fixed because I love it. Any trouble it gives me will be worth it in the end, because I love it" she finished looking up at Luke. "And no matter what the mileage is like, or what DVD players or mp3 players or any of that fancy stuff in the new cars, I won't care because I don't care about that stuff that kind of thing means nothing to me. Well not nearly as much as my jeep does"

"Okayyy" he replied thoughtfully

"Soo, what do you think?" Lorelai asked a little nervously

"I think it's time to get a new car" Luke replied simply

He regretted it instantly when he saw the hurt flash across Lorelai's face.

"Well that's, okay, I should go, I..." Lorelai trailed off.

Just as she was opening the jeep door, she turned.

"You like this truck right Luke?"

"Yea I guess" he replied

"Would you replace it if it gave up on you; I mean it is old enough?"

"Depends what was wrong with it"

"What if it was broken badly, would you get it fixed or replace it" Lorelai had just asked the million dollar question.

"I guess I'd replace it" he replied

Lorelai shook her head, annoyance clear in her face.

"I guess things like that just mean more to me than they do to you, huh Luke?" she said, Luke understood exactly what she was saying.

"It's just a jeep Lorelai"

"Oh come on Luke, you know we're not talking about a jeep here"

"Really because I could have sworn that's exactly what we were talking about"

"Uggh, Luke you are just so, uggh. You know what fine whatever, I guess it is up to you, what I want really doesn't matter. You know what you can just call up the shop and tell them I'll take the black car. If that's what you want?" Lorelai asked, allowing him one last chance to not be replaced. They both knew the jeep was a metaphor for Luke. Did he want her to let it go, or have it fixed? She waited for an answer as Luke held eye contact with her.

Review. Just a teeiny tiny chapter left, but I wanted a little suspense. I will update at a certain number of reviews, so if you want to find out what happens by tommorrow leave a review, mean I know, but I worked hard on this...


	2. Chapter 2

Time stood still as Lorelai waited for Luke's answer.

He reached over and touched Lorelai's arm. It was the first time he had touched her since the formal handshake he had given her months back.

She broke eye contact momentarily to look down at his hand.

"It's just easier to get a new one, it's broken pretty badly Lorelai" he said gently

Lorelai shook her head, "But don't you get how I feel Luke? I know it's tough and I know it will be tough, but today I realized something. Some things deserve another chance. Is it not even harder to move on and look back knowing that our new lives can never been as good as our old ones?" she asked.

All jeep metaphors had fully gone out the window, they were talking openly about their relationship now.

Luke shook his head trying to come up with his answer "Lorelai" he pleaded, "don't..."

"I've tried Luke, these past months, I packed boxed and boxes of 'Luke stuff' and tried to just shove them in the garage, I couldn't even throw them out. And I stopped thinking about you and us and about the past two years, heck I tried to erase ten years. I told myself that I didn't love you and somehow convinced myself that you don't love me. I married Christopher. If I could ever be happy with someone who was not you then it would have to have been him." tears were streaming freely down Lorelai's face by now. "I didn't want kids with him; I didn't want to have a proper wedding with him, because the only person I had dreamed about doing those things with was you"

Lorelai realized the grip Luke had on her arm had gotten a little tighter. She scanned his face in search of some kind of answer.

After a few moments she wondered whether or not one was coming. She wiped the tears off her face and sighed as Luke began to comfort her, rubbing her arm soothingly.

"I don't think I could take breaking up with you again Lorelai" Luke said finally, "as hard as it is to let you go now, if we were together again, I couldn't let you go"

"Then don't Luke, don't let me go" Lorelai whispered, "the next time you see me walking away, make me stay."

She could see the hurt instantly on Luke's face as she brought up the memories of that painful night, that night they broke up.

"No" Luke replied, he seemed determined to block out any of the memories of them, other than that painful night and the morning she told him she had slept with Christopher.

But Lorelai could see underneath all that. She knew he wanted to be with her.

"Luke?" She questioned. He looked up.

"Do you love me?" she asked

"Yes" he replied softly without a moment's hesitation.

"Ask me if I love you" she said sincerely

"Stop Lorelai, just stop" he said raising his voice.

"No" she said raising her voice also, "Not until you admit that you want to be with me as much as I want to be with you" damn, she thought, she hadn't meant for it to come out like that.

"It's not that easy" he paused, "what if something happens again?" he asked, a hint of fear evident in his voice.

"We made our mistakes" she said as she scooted closer to him. She reached over and took his hand. "Now we know that…" she paused for a moment and laced his fingers through her own "…that we need each other" she finished.

Luke offered no response so she continued, "It's not just about dating or how much we enjoy spending time together anymore. It's about me wanting to spend the rest of my life with you, and I know that despite everything you said and how much I doubted whether or not you felt the same way, that you do feel that same way" she paused "about me" she finished shyly.

She scanned his face quickly, "Tell me I'm wrong Luke, tell me I'm wrong and I'll go"

They stayed like that for about a minute, Luke deep in thought. Just when Lorelai began to wonder if she should get out of the truck, Luke tightened his grip on her hand.

His voice came out kind of broken, as though he wanted to cry

"Don't go" he whispered. He leaned in sliding his free hand to Lorelai's cheek. "Don't ever go again Lorelai" he said, with a clear amount of vulnerability present in his voice.

"I won't" she promised. She flashed him shy smile as he closed the gap between them.


End file.
